Good Practice
by Jayne Leigh
Summary: Donna buys a puppy. Set during Santos Adminstration. Please review


**Here's something I wrote a while ago and forgot to post. Just a little fun standalone fic. I hope you like it. I'll have more updates for my other fics, really soon. I promise. Please review!! **

**Enjoy!! **

**Good Practice **

Josh sat at his desk, staring at the ruined folder in his hands. He had just arrived back from a week long trip to Europe with President Santos and had never been so tired in his life. All he wanted to do was to go home and get something to eat then crawl into bed but he didn't have time. They had been delayed, which meant he only had an hour to spare before he had to be back at the White House. So, he headed home to grab a quick shower, change his clothes and pick up some files he would need but when he got there, he had found a surprise waiting for him.

"Josh?" Margaret stood in the doorway. "Donna is here. Do you have time to see her?"

"Oh, yes...send her in!"

Margaret looked at him curiously but left without commenting. A few seconds later, Donna walked through the door.

"Hey! You're back."

"Yes."

"You must be exhausted what with the delay..." She started but stopped, noticing the look he was giving her. "Okay, what is it? What happened?"

"This happened." He held up the folder.

She took it from him and examined it. "Are those teeth marks?"

"Yes, Donna...Teeth marks."

"Did you get hungry during the trip or something?" She questioned, throwing it back onto his desk.

"No because surprisingly enough, I left this file at home."

"At home?" Her eyes widened a little.

"Yes, I dropped by on way here to pick it up..."

"Okay..." She started. "It's a funny story."

"Funny, haha or funny, strange?"

"Depends on your reaction."

"Donna! Explain!"

"Okay, Annabeth's sister's dog just had puppies...and well, you were away and it gets kind of lonely."

"You brought a puppy?!"

"Oh come on, Josh...he's so cute," She stated. "You didn't scare him, did you?"

"Scare him?!" He exclaimed. "Donna! The thing was chewing up important Government documents!"

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow at him, knowing it couldn't be that important or he wouldn't have left them lying around at home. "What are they about?"

"I don't know but that's not the point! Margaret?!" He yelled for his assistant and then turned back to Donna. "You can't just get a puppy."

"Why not?"

"Yes?" Margaret walked back into the office.

"Because...because we have to talk about these things!"

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Il'll remember for the future."

"Donna..." He whined.

"Josh?" Margaret prompted.

"What?" He looked at her confused before realising he had called for her. He picked up the file and handed it to her. "Right, yeah..fix this, would you."

She looked at it, curiously. "Gee, all you had do was ask for a sandwich."

"It wasn't me!" He turned his glare from Donna to Margaret. "Just print another copy off or do whatever you do, just fix it!"

"Right," she nodded, looking from Josh to Donna before leaving.

"Come on, you can buy me lunch," Donna suggested.

"What? Lunch?" He asked, confused by the sudden conversation change.

"Yeah, you know that meal between breakfast and dinner."

"Why am I taking you to lunch?"

"Because you're a wonderful boyfriend?"

"Shouldn't you be buying me lunch?"

"Why?"

"Because your damn dog ate my work!"

"Josh, that excuse never worked during High school and it's not going to work now."

"Donna!"

"Oh come on," she rolled her eyes, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. "Food will help you understand."

"Understand what?" He asked, reaching for his suit jacket. "You got a dog and failed to mention it to me."

"I've always wanted to have my own dog." She informed him, turning and heading for the door "Beside, it'll be good practice for when we have a baby."

Josh froze, his jacket half on and when he looked up, he found he was alone.

"Donna?" He called as he ran after her, trying to get his jacket on at the same time.

"Josh, here..." Margaret started, holding out the new file when she saw him but he ran straight past her.

He caught up with Donna just as she joined the line in the Mess.

"Hey..." He said, trying to sound casual.

"Hi." She smiled slightly, picking up two trays and handing him one.

"Right, so about that..." He started.

"About what?" She asked, placing a salad on her tray.

"Back in the office..."

"It's a puppy, Josh," she shrugged, swapping the burger he just picked up for a salad. "He'll keep me company when you have to work late or you're away."

"What happens when you're away?" He didn't comment or complain about the salad because she let him keep his fries.

"Then he'll keep you company," she assured him, placing a bottle of water on each of their trays and removed the bottle of Coke Cola from his.

He comprised by changing his water for an orange juice. "Right, whatever but I didn't mean the dog, I meant the other thing?"

"The other thing?" She picked up her tray and headed for a table, leaving Josh no choice but to pay.

He sighed, knowing she was avoiding the question. He just wasn't sure if it was because she was serious and didn't know how he'd react or if she was just winding him up.

He handed over the money for their lunches and then sat opposite her.

"So, did anything else happen while I was away?" He asked, opening his salad, glancing up at her.

"Like what?" She questioned.

"Like, I don't know...um, news?"

"News?" She repeated. "What kind of news?"

"Donna..." He whined.

"What?"

He rubbed his eyes. He knew he had to choose his words carefully or he might end up offending her by accidental calling her fat or something.

"Does this dog have a name?" He decided to change the subject.

Donna looked up at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Toby."

"What?"

"That's what I've named him...Toby." She explained. "He was so cute with his sad little eyes."

"Wait, hang on...you think Toby is cute?"

"The dog, Josh."

"Right, okay..." He shook his head, trying to clear all his thoughts. He was too sleep deprived to follow this without getting confused. "Okay, remember that I haven't slept in the last 48 hours and for most of the time, I've been stuck on a plane..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Okay.."

"So, whatever I say now, I am not or do not mean to offend you or insult you," he added. "But are you pregnant?"

"What?"

"You know, pregnant...Having a baby..." He continued. "I mean, what you said in the office...about being ready..."

"Josh..."

"I'm just saying..."

"I'm not pregnant, Josh."

"You're not?"

"No," she smiled. "I was just making a comment."

"Okay." He replied and they ate in silence for a while. "So, we have a dog talked Toby?"

"Yes."

"Because he's cute and has sad eyes?"

"The dog is cute but Toby has sad eyes, too."

"Right..."

"Josh?" She stole a few of his fries.

"Hmm?"

"You sound disappointed."

"About the dog?"

"About not being pregnant."

He glanced up at her. "I'm not disappointed...just... you know..."

"No, I don't know."

"We've talked about the future... about kids.." He shrugged. "And I know it's not something that we're not planning on doing now or even in the next couple of years...but..I dunno, I guess for a split second when I thought maybe you were...I just think, we could handle it... If it happened."

She smiled, placing her hands over his. "You're sweet, you know that."

He grinned. "Well, I try."

"But you know maybe we should see how we cope with a dog first," she suggested, grabbing her bag. "I got to go."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." He nodded, leaning back in his chair taking a mouthful of orange juice as she stood up. "We're not even married."

She leaned down, kissing his cheek. "Not yet anyway."

He choked on his juice and spun around in his chair to watch her walk out.

"Hey." Sam dropped down into the chair that Donna had just got up from.

"Hey..." Josh slowly turned around to face him.

"What's going on?" He asked, picking up his sandwich and taking a bite.

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Hm, just the thing you want to hear from the guy who's in charge of running the country."

Josh sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I need more sleep."

"Okay," Sam shrugged, grabbing the rest of Josh's fries and carried on eating his lunch.

**The End**

**Please review and let me know what you think!! **


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